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HIS BIGGEST WIN EVER - Day of pride in Billerica as Tom Glavine joins baseball Hall

By David Pevear, dpevear@lowellsun.com

Updated:
01/09/2014 02:50:48 PM EST

BILLERICA -- Cooperstown has such a mythical ring to it, almost as if Billerica's Tom Glavine on Wednesday afternoon passed into a bronzed supernatural state of being.

To Fred and Millie Glavine, though, the third of their four children is still the same unpretentious flesh-and-blood Tommy. When Glavine came home to visit recently, this baseball immortal shoveled snow off a nearby pond so he could join his kids and others from the neighborhood in a hockey game.

On Wednesday, Tommy called his parents after it was announced he had been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He still sounded like Tommy, said his mom.

THAT'S OUR BOY! Fred and Millie Glavine of Billerica did a lot of cheering Wednesday as their son, former Atlanta Braves star pitcher Tom Glavine, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. SUN / BOB WHITAKER

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The Glavines, married 55 years and who have four children, 10 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren (and another great-grandchild on the way), nervously watched as the announcement was made live on the MLB Network. Fred Glavine, who poured foundations for a living, said, "I was kind of filling up (with emotion)."

Asked what was said during Tommy's call home Wednesday, Fred said, "Well, Tommy's pretty laid-back."

"The announcement was almost like hearing 'John Wayne, Academy Award Winner.' To hear 'Tom Glavine, Hall of Famer,' it just blows your mind," said Millie.

"But I don't think of him as that," she added. "I think of him as Tommy. He's no different than the rest (of the Glavine kids).

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Tommy's 305 career pitching victories, two Cy Young Awards, one World Series MVP and pending induction into the Hall of Fame are a lot to be proud of. On the day Cooperstown came calling, Fred Glavine choked up. And he was moved not only by Tommy's pending baseball immortality.

"We're just as proud of the fact that he left here at 18 years old and his name was never in the paper for something other than sports," said Fred, his eyes welling with tears.

Former Braves star pitcher Tom Glavine, a Billerica native, enjoys the moment at Atlanta's Turner Field after being elected to baseball's Hall of Fame Wednesday.
AP PHOTO

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"For a kid to make the kind of money he did young, and stay out of trouble, is almost as good as his record in baseball. So many young kids go off the boat."

The phone at the Glavines' home on Treble Cove Road in North Billerica began ringing right after the Hall of Fame announcement was made at 2 p.m. Millie rushed to pick up one call. The caller identified himself on the machine as Tony DeMacio. He was the Braves scout who first signed Glavine as a Billerica High senior in 1984.

"Nice, nice man," said Millie.

Down in Florida, a few minutes after hearing the news, Glavine's baseball coach at Billerica High, Jon Sidorovich, laughed as he recalled not starting Glavine in his first game as a freshman.

Former Atlanta Braves star pitcher Tom Glavine, right, receives an honorary cap from Braves President John Schuerholz during a news conference at Turner Field after being elected to the Hall of Fame Wednesday. AP PHOTO

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He did send Glavine up as a pinch-hitter in that game.

"I wanted to ease him in," said Sidorovich. "I recall he got the game-winning hit. That was the end of easing him in. He never saw the bench again."

At the risk of jinxing the expected outcome of the Hall of Fame voting, Sidorovich several months ago booked hotel rooms near Cooperstown for the last weekend in July -- Induction Weekend.

"He's just an outstanding baseball player, as well as a great person," said Sidorovich, who recalled Glavine calling him a few years ago to offer his condolences after Sidorovich's father died.

While nobody could have predicted Cooperstown for Glavine back when he starred in baseball and hockey at Billerica High, Cooperstown is where he belongs.

"He's belonged everywhere he's gone," said Sidorovich.

Paul Ames grew up playing hockey and baseball with Glavine, and he later played hockey at UMass Lowell. Glavine the hockey player led the area in scoring his senior season at Billerica (1983-84), and was a fourth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Kings.

"He was the most complete hockey player," said Ames. "He was the first guy coming back and battling in the corners for you. He could have easily been a defenseman."

On Wednesday, Ames thought back to Glavine and him playing street hockey and to their Wiffle-ball recreations of great World Series moments.

"But when we were kids, we thought of playing in high school," said Ames. "Who thinks about the Hall of Fame? It's amazing. I'm so proud of him. A kid from Billerica going to the Hall of Fame."

Scott Crandall, another of Glavine's former Billerica High baseball teammates who has remained a close friend, texted Glavine Wednesday morning wishing him luck. "He's very laid-back, but he was certainly excited," said Crandall. "But humble about it."

Like his old baseball coach Sidorovich, Crandall had already booked reservations for Induction Weekend in Cooperstown. He kept that to himself so as not to be accused of jinxing his friend.

"I was confident we were good to go," said Crandall.

Glavine on Wednesday was named on 91.9 percent of the ballots cast by eligible members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Glavine's former Braves teammate Greg Maddux (97.2 percent) and former American League slugger Frank Thomas (83.7) also were elected. (Candidates must be named on 75 percent of the ballots.)

"Oh to me, (Glavine's election) was a no-brainer," said Ames. "Pitched 22 years. Won over 300 games. Left-handed. Played during the Steroid Era and (at 6-foot-0, 175 pounds) took the ball every fifth day and put up quality start after quality start."

On the day his son Tommy's baseball immortality was confirmed, Fred Glavine recalled Tommy at age 8 trying out for a spring soccer team in Billerica. Tommy at the first practice took rather well to soccer, but time-management considerations forced Fred to tell Tom to pick baseball or soccer. Since Tommy signed up for baseball first, Fred thought it fair his son stick with baseball. He remembers receiving a call from the soccer coach, who in his Irish brogue told of how much the team missed Tommy at practice that day. The coach told Mr. Glavine, "He's just going to stand around and watch bugs playing baseball?"

Fred Glavine recalled years later again seeing that coach, who conceded that Tommy at age 8 had chosen the right game.

Now, on to Cooperstown for the July 27 induction ceremonies.

"They've told me there are three or four hundred people (from Billerica) already booked, buses and all. We might have the biggest crowd in town. I hope they're not rowdy," Fred Glavine said with a smile.

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